KAT! Brunson! DEFENSE! NY 94 Detroit 93

April 28, 2025 LouV 2024-25 0

Jalen Brunson and then Karl-Anthony Towns carried the Knicks in the final minutes with clutch, incredible shots, and NY’s defense held court for an amazing 94-93 come-from-behind win in Detroit on a Sunday afternoon.

Detroit had the ball on the final possession, but Knick defense forced Cade Cunningham into a straight-away miss from 14 feet — the offensive rebound skipping out to Tim Hardaway Jr., who missed a 3 from the corner under heavy pressure from Josh Hart.

Hart made incidental contact with Hardaway Jr, and Detroit complained that there should have been a foul. The refs allowed a very physical game throughout, but afterwards said they should have called a foul on the final play.

But Detroit could not challenge the call — having used and lost their challenge early in the game at the insistence of their star Cade Cunningham. It was brought up by fans that Hardaway only got the ball because Josh Hart was mugged on the rebound by Tobias Harris.

All of that could not overshadow the amazing final run by the Knicks, who were down by 11 points at 79-68 with 8:35 left when Mikal Bridges hit two 3’s, and then Brunson took over with clutch shot after clutch shot to get NY back in the game.

In the final 2 minutes, Karl-Anthony Towns took over:

  • Hitting a 3 to pull NY within a point with 2:43 left;
  • Making an impossible fadeaway 2 with defenders draped over him with 1:29 left pulling NY within 2; and then
  • Drilling a 3 from near the logo after a Kyrie Irving-like stutter step move to put NY up 94-93 with 47 seconds left.

During the final run, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Bridges, Towns, Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, and Miles McBride applied phenomenal defense to thwart Detroit. They forced Cade Cunningham (25 pts, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) into 2 turnovers and 2 key misses in the lane in the final minutes.

“Playoff wins are tough. Hard to get ’em,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “We didn’t have much going our way to start the 4th. Dug down and found a way to win in the end. A lot of tough plays; guys stepping up. KAT hitting big shots; Jalen big shots. Mikal’s defense. OG’s defense. Josh’s hustle plays; rebounds. We needed everybody and just find a way to win. And that’s the bottom line.”

NY takes a 3-1 game lead in the best-of-7 series.

1. Detroit Challenges Call Early in the Game

The Knicks came out with aggression, and held a 10-8 lead with 6:52 left in the 1st quarter when OG Anunoby missed a shot but the Knicks grabbed an offensive rebound. Cade Cunningham felt he was fouled and asked coach Bernie Bickerstaff to challenge the call — he did and the Pistons lost the challenge. It would prove to be an important event in the game.

2. Knicks Come Out Strong

The Knicks continued their aggression, grabbing 50-50 balls, and hitting 3’s in rhythm to build a double-digit lead in the 1st quarter that seemed like it should have been bigger if NY hadn’t turned the ball over on a couple of plays.

Karl-Anthony Towns was popping 3’s, as was Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson.

Hart hit a 3 with 6 minutes left in the 1st quarter to put NY up 15-8, Brunson hit a 3 to make it 18-8, and a few minutes later Hart hit another 3 to put NY 21-12.

Miles McBride came off the bench to make it 24-12 NY.

Detroit pulled to within 29-19 at the end of the 1st quarter.

2. Knicks up by 16 Near End of 2nd Quarter

NY continued to push it in the 2nd quarter — and were in complete control of the game. A Jalen Brunson 3 with 5 minutes left in the quarter put NY up by 14 pts at 40-26.

An OG Anunoby dunk off a Josh Hart assist put NY up by 16 at 48-32 with 2:14 left in the half.

3. Detroit Run Pulls them to Within 7 at Half

But NY did not finish the quarter well — Detroit went on a run — a Tobias Harris drive-and-1, a Tim Hardaway Jr 3, and an Ausar Thompson dunk off a Cade Cunningham alley oop pass — to pull within 7 at the half. NY 50 Detroit 43.

4. Detroit Continues Run in 3rd; Go Up by 7

The run gave Detroit life, and they continued momentum in the 3rd quarter. The Knicks started missing their 3’s. Several buckets by Cade Cunningham and one by Auser Thompson assisted by Cunningham put Detroit up by 3.

5. Brunson Goes Out with Leg Sprain

NY was down 63-61 with 2:54 left in the 3rd when Dennis Schroder Jr. stole the ball from Brunson, feeding Cunningham for a slam and 65-61 Detroit lead. Brunson fell to the floor on the play, grabbing his leg and writhing in pain. He tried to get up but had to drop to to the floor again. He left the game and limped to the lockerroom as the Knick’s hopes for the game and the season hung in the balance.

Malik Beasley hit two 3’s in the final minute of the quarter to put Detroit up 71-64 entering the 4th.

It was looking really bad for NY.

6. Brunson Returns

Cunningham scored on a drive to begin the 4th, then hit a free throw off a drive to put Detroit up 10.

But at 10:14 left, Jalen Brunson returned from the lockerroom.

Brunson missed a drive, but then hit a drive, and then hit another drive. Brunson was back. The Knicks had hope.

Still Malik Beasley countered Brunson with a drive, and then a 3 — and Detroit was up 11 with 8:35 left.

7. Bridges, Brunson, KAT & Defense Vault Knicks

And that’s when Mikal Bridges hit a HUGE 3 to pull NY within 8.

Brunson Takes Over

Brunson hit a drive to pull NY within 6, and a minute later fed Bridges for ANOTHER 3 and NY was down by 3.

Cunningham made free throws off a drive, but Brunson made ANOTHER Clutch drive and NY was down 3.

Hardaway hit a huge 3 to put Detroit up 5 at 84-79 with 5 minutes left.

But Brunson made a 10-footer, Bridges stole the ball from Cunningham, and Brunson hit a 3 — and it was a tie game at 84-84 with 4:07 left.

“Jalen Brunson won at all levels for a reason and it’s no accident rather it’s his will to win, use of his skillset, big time fundamentals, heart and leadership!” exclaimed NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “You saw it today playing injured but yet still had his defender at his mercy, created for others and never relented or quit.”

On the radio, Monica McNutt jinxed the Knicks, exclaiming “One team has the clutchest player in the NBA, the other team doesn’t” — referring to Jalen Brunson winning the Clutch Player of the Year award 2 nights earlier.

As soon as she said it, Dennis Schroder hit a step-back jumper to put Detroit ahead, Brunson missed a floater, and Cunningham hit a 13-footer and Detroit was up by 4 with 3 minutes left.

KAT Takes Over

And that’s when Karl-Anthony Towns stepped up — hitting a HUGE 3 to pull NY within 1.

Hardaway answered with a 3 to put Detroit back up 4 with 2:20 left — but Brunson answered that with a drive and NY was down by 2.

Hardaway hit a pullup, but KAT answered with a phenomenal fade away from the left side with defenders draped over him. NY down 2 with 1:29 left.

NY forced Cunningham into a miss, and Karl-Anthony Towns came down and hit a Kyrie Irving-like 3 from 35 feet to give the Knicks a 94-93 lead with 47 seconds left !!!!!!!!

DEFENSE in Final Seconds

Detroit timeout.

Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride entered for defense, for KAT and Brunson respectively. And NY forced Cade Cunningham into a turnover inside.

NY time out.

After the timeout, Brunson — back with KAT in the game for offense — missed a drive and Detroit had the ball with 11 seconds left. KAT fouled Cunningham on purpose to stop a fast break, and NY called time — inserting Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride back in the game for the final play.

NY forced Cunningham into a miss from 14 feet, the rebound skipping out to Hardaway, who missed a 3 at the buzzer as Josh Hart contested!

The little birdie inside your head told you the Knicks won after Cunningham missed — as Josh Hart and KAT were underneath for the rebound. But instead the ball skipped out to Hardaway. And as Knicks Mafia pointed out — Hardaway Jr got the ball because Josh Hart was mugged by Tobias Harris on the rebound.

Here’s the final 3 minutes in their entirety:

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401768043

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